Sham Choudhary for speeding up dredging works in river Jhelum

SRINAGAR, MAY 17 - Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Sham Lal Choudhary today stressed upon the officers of I&FC department to gear up their men and machinery to further speed up the dredging works in river Jhelum.Minister said this during his day long tour to Baramulla and Sopore to personally monitor the ongoing dredging works in river Jhelum and functioning of PHE department in these areas.Deputy Commissioner Baramulla Nasir Naqash, Chief Engineer PHE Srinagar Ghulam Mohammed Bhat, Chief Engineer I&FC, Superintending Engineer PHE and I&FC Ghulam Qadir Bhat, Executive Engineers of PHE and I&FC Baramulla and other senior officers of the department accompanied the Minister during his visit.The Minister visited site no-2 in Khadinyar area of Baramulla where dredging works in Outfall Channel (OFC) of river Jhelum are being carried out by the department. The Minister was informed that 2 long boom excavators have been engaged at the site for second stage works.In order to speed up the process, the Minister asked the concerned officers to submit a proposal for procurement of 2 new high-tech dredging machines for the purpose. The new machines are highly advanced and will help in taking out the material from river bed faster, the Minister said.Earlier, the Minister convened a meeting with the officers and reviewed the functioning of PHE and I&FC department. The Minister was apprised of the water supply scenario in the district and works which are being carried by PHE department to augment water supply to the people of the area.Sham Lal Choudhary also visited the other dredging site in Sopore and was briefed by the concerned officers about the ongoing works. It was informed that 2 suction dredgers have been engaged for the works. It was informed to the Minister that the machines are working properly and around 50 cubic metre river bed material are being taken out per hour.The Minister directed the officers to further pace up the dredging works so that the works can be finished well in time.“Dredging work is a regular process and it needs to be taken in a planned and systematic manner so that water flows freely during the monsoon season without causing danger to the lives of people”, the Minister said.Later Sham Choudhary visited Shakwara in Sopore to review the functioning of 1.60 MGD Rapid Sand Filteration Plant (New). He went around the plant and apprised about the various components of Water Supply Scheme established under (UIDSSMT).Executive Engineer PHE Sopore Mohammad Shafiq briefed the Minister about the functioning of the plant and said that around 16 lakh gallon water is being supplied to the people of Sopore town per day.The Minister while addressing the officers and staff said that it is the responsibility of the department to provide safe drinking water to the people and asked them to closely monitor the quality of the water on regular basis.